By Siyi Liu and Florence Tan
SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Saudi Arabia is expected to export at least 36 million barrels of crude oil to China, slightly less than the previous month, several sources with knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday.
The expected drop in supply from the world’s top exporter to the world’s largest oil importer for a second straight month comes as some Chinese refineries are heading for maintenance and as independent refiners are waiting for Beijing to issue 2026 import quotas.
One of the Chinese buyers reduced its December volume as it has already lifted most of its full-year contractual supply, one of the sources said.
December’s volume would be the lowest since April, and down from about 38 million barrels in November, Reuters data showed.
A shortage of import quotas for Chinese independent refiners for the remainder of 2025 has also led to a rise in floating oil storage in Asia.
In contrast, India will increase crude imports from Middle Eastern producers Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Kuwait in December as Indian refiners seek alternatives to Russian barrels.
(Reporting by Siyi Liu and Florence Tan; Editing by Tom Hogue and Christian Schmollinger)
